Two Lords' Manhunt
Hey everybody. I just wanted to take a shot at writing a story, so here goes. Some things to note before you read : *This story is supposed to be my attempt at a psychological story where the lines of morality are blurred, things like that. Lots of cliched elements. *Names are a weakness of mine, so please forgive me for using foreign names I come up with from Google Translate. *Feel free to criticize my creativity in the comments below. *This story will try to obey all of The Rules of Kritana, and can be considered canon. If it does break any of the rules, please note it in the comments so that I may be able to fix it. *A few plot elements have in a way, inspired some parts of the story. Prologue "What am I scared of..? Well, I suppose monsters. There are many monsters in this world. Monsters who hide and always cause trouble. Monsters who devour dreams. Monsters who abduct children. Monsters who suck blood... And monsters who always tell lies. Lying monsters are a real nuisance. They are much more cunning than other monsters. They pose as humans, even though they have no understanding of the human heart. They eat, even though they've never experienced hunger. They study, even though they have no interest in academics. They seek friendship even though they do not know how to love. If I were to encounter such monster, I would likely be devoured by it, because in truth, I am that monster." The two children scratched their heads as they sat at the feet of their father, listening to the answer to their question about what he was afraid of. The father laughed, tellling them that they'll understand what he meant when they grow up. (T's Side)Chapter 1 : A Man Raises an Angel and a Demon Yes, what a cliched chapter title, eh? Well, this is my own account for the story of how two supposed lords went on a long, tedious manhunt for a criminal. I myself am one of those two. I'm not going to try and make my side of the story telling formal or anything. I really couldn't care less. Now for the introductions. You can call me T. Me and my brother, (who is the other lord, by the way,) think that it's best if we don't include our names until later in the story for the suspense. S is my brother. Now you have the introductions. How this whole story started is when my father, Lord Ayatsuru of the Sogen province, was laying on his death bed. Even at his death bed, he still hated and ranted about his enemies known as the Übel. They had been a long time nuisance. The Übel claimed that their motive, even obligation, was to cleanse the world of evil by mercilessly executing criminals, and getting rid of other criminal organizations. Even the leader claimed that he's a god. How childish, right? Still, some members of society supported the Übel because they believed that killing was the only way of making a better world. The Übel were very strange, though. Nobody knew how they conducted their killings. If they wanted someone dead, the target would just drop down to the ground and die, apparantly being suffocated by nothing. This is one reason why many thought of the strange, mysterious leader of the Übel was a god. He never showed his face, never went out in public, and didn't kill criminals who were truly sorry for their crimes. Somehow, my father never was killed by the Übel, even though he openly despised them. The Übel usually killed politicians who opposed them. Lord Ayatsuru was dying, and his twin sons were his only offspring. Me and S hated each other, and wouldn't agree to share our inheritence no matter what. Our father agreed to a plan that both me and S agreed (something we don't do often), and that is whoever brings him the head of the leader of the Übel first, recieves the inheritence of the castle and title of lordship. He also said that we should work together. Me and my brother were exceptionally intelligent, more logical than most in the land and maybe in the country. S is the more deductive one, while I'm the one who takes the wiser initiative, or makes the better plans. He seems to be devoid of emotion, while I tend to get emotional at times. When I heard my father say that we should cooperate, I looked at S in disgust. "You know what? Forget it. S should be the one to succeed you. I always fall second to him in everything. He just solves puzzles and mysteries and uses his head. I let my emotions get in the way. I'm leaving." And without another word, I left and went into hiding for formulate a plan. I don't just want the title of lordship ; I want to beat S, if by any means necessary. So now you know why it's called a manhunt. Now for my brother's turn to tell the story in a much more organized, formal way. (S's Side)Chapter 2 : Feces is the First Clue? Now that that's done, I'll introduce myself as S. At the time, and still now, I have never hated T. He always just let emotions get the better of him and thinks I hate him. An outburst like that, followed by his abandonment of the castle life left me no competition. After he left, I didn't see him for months. He just disappeared. As for myself, I began investigating the Übel, even though I didn't need to It seemed interesting. I did have an initial suspicion of where the Übel were. Most of the criminals who were announced as wanted in exclusive regions and killed afterwards were only announced in the Aisurando province. This leads me to believe that the Übel are larger than we have suspected, and have stationed men in different regions. The fact that most of the killings of local criminals were in the Aisurando province led me to believe that the Übel as a whole are mostly concentrated around there, or near there. If the leader of the Übel (whom I've dubbed as 'K' for killer) is the only one who has the power to kill in the mysterious suffocation manner, then it's safe to assume that he's in or near the Aisurando province. My reasoning for this is that he has to get information or supplies from his men in order to conduct his killings, and if he's near the Aisurando province, they get to K the fastest. How K is able to kill simply by making them choke is still a shrouded mystery. I traveled to the Aisurando region, and stayed in the castle of a beloved friend of my father's. There, I ordered my stealthiest men to tail newly convicted criminals. To my surprise, they reported back to me a day later and told me something unexpected - mysterious men had stolen the left behind waste of the convicts. Feces.. Is that what the Übel, or K, really need to kill? You've got to be joking. I told my men to continue tailing the same convicts, and if they get the opportunity, to tail the potential members of the Übel. If the convicts die, then it's safe to assume that they are indeed part of the Übel. I've also started to hide my own waste. How ridiculous. Why waste, though? Do they need some kind of organic material? If so, it's safe to assume that something supernatural is going on - magic. Could the Übel be made up of powerful magicians that need organic material in order to kill? This obviously isn't any contraption or technology.. No, that's not it. That idea is just as absurd as giant flying barrels with iron wings. This theory about feces can only be considered if the men who stole the waste are indeed the Übel. I just have to wait. (S's Side)Chapter 3 : Potential Confrontation Category:Stories/Plots